page_title: History of Manchester City F.C. (2001–present)
section_title: Mancini era (2009–2013)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Manchester City F.C. (2001–present) / Revolution (2008–present) / Mancini era (2009–2013)
caption_attribution_description: English: Roberto Mancini Lech Poznań vs Manchester City FC, 4 November, 2010
context_page_description: This page chronicles the history of English football team Manchester City Football Club in further detail from 2001 to the present day. See History of Manchester City F.C. for a history overview of Manchester City.
  The 2001 to 2011 history of the club has been marked by stability, with the club establishing itself as a Premier League regular since 2002. The club was taken over in 2007 by Thaksin Shinawatra, who invested a considerable portion of money into the club with Sven-Göran Eriksson. After being arrested for political corruption in the summer of 2008, Shinawatra had to sell the club to an Abu Dhabi Investment Group.
context_section_description: In his 21 Premier League games in the second half of the season, Mancini won eleven and drew six, guiding City to fifth place in the final league table – their highest finish since 1992 – and earning UEFA Europa League qualification. Soon after the season ended, club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak confirmed in an interview that Mancini's job was safe despite the club missing out on Champions League qualification after being beaten 1–0 by Tottenham. The season was viewed as a sign of progress after a League Cup semi-final and a number of promising performances, notably the 4–2 win against league leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and impressive consecutive 6–1 and 5–1 wins against Burnley away and Birmingham City at Eastlands.
  Before the 2010–11 season, Mancini, with support from his chairman and financial support from the owner, had the opportunity in the summer to build his squad for the upcoming season. Mancini embarked on a summer spending spree, signing Jérôme Boateng from Hamburger SV, David Silva from Valencia, Yaya Touré from Barcelona, Aleksandar Kolarov from Lazio, Mario Balotelli from Inter Milan and James Milner from Aston Villa. However, the club also let fan favourite Craig Bellamy leave on loan for Cardiff City after a rumoured fractious relationship with Mancini. 2008 signing Robinho also left, joining Milan on transfer deadline day for an estimated £22 million, £10 million less than what City bought him for from Real Madrid.
  After an inconsistent pre-season, City drew their first Premier League match 0–0 with Tottenham at White Hart Lane – an improved performance in the second half after a shaky first 45 minutes gave City a point against one of their "bogey teams". The club made a decent start to the season and beat Liverpool 3–0, but lost 1–0 to Sunderland after Carlos Tevez missed an open goal in the first half, leaving City on four points after the first three Premier League games of the season.
  The club season was curtailed for two weeks for the international break of qualifiers for Euro 2012 and there was a degree of pride around Eastlands that despite all the money spent, the club were still very keen on investing in English footballers, a nation of footballers that some believe the Premier League is hindering England's progress on the international stage with too many foreign players. During the match against Switzerland on 7 September, England fielded four Manchester City players from the start – Joe Hart, Joleon Lescott, Gareth Barry and James Milner. By the end of the match, England were fielding six City players after the inclusion of Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Only a few other teams in the history of football can claim to have such a numerical influence in the England national team, with City joining Herbert Chapman's 1930s Arsenal's side, Bob Paisley's Liverpool team in the 1970s and Alex Ferguson's early 2000s Manchester United side.
  By the middle of October, City were second in the league, two points behind leaders Chelsea and three points ahead of rivals Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham. Three wins against Newcastle United, Blackpool and Lech Poznań in the Europa League had put City in a good position. A spell of bad form developed, however, as City suffered consecutive league defeats against Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers, as well as a 3–1 away defeat against Lech Poznań, the first time Roberto Mancini had lost three matches on the bounce; this sparked erroneous speculation that Mancini could be sacked.
  City then embarked on a nine-match unbeaten run from early November after the Europa League loss against Lech Poznań to 20 December. The unbeaten run started with two goalless home draws against Manchester United and Birmingham City, in which Mancini was pinpointed in the media for his "defensive" tactics. In response to media criticism, however, a good portion of Manchester City supporters personally backed Mancini with the chant, "He comes from Italy, to manage Man City, Mancini! Ohhhh! Mancini! Ohhhh!," which became commonplace (particularly at away matches) in r
caption: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini from December 2009 to May 2013 who laid the foundations for a successful era
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